Very late in season for butterflies

We had a terrible spring with very few caterpillars getting to chrysalis stage & becoming butterflies (wasps we think) but we were delighted to get a huge crop of caterpillars end of March beginning of April.
The weather now in South Auckland (Otara) is starting to get cooler and we still have all our chrysatis’s waiting to hatch. Do they survive this late in the season and complete their transformation? We still have a few caterpillars on the plants.

I’m getting some weak ones too Miranda, I had a perfect looking female die yesterday .. she looked perfect but not very good at hanging on to things. she lasted a couple of days and never flew away when the opportunity was there. But today at least I have a big strong feisty female. I just need the wind to drop to safely release her.

I’m in Papakura and have been moving my chrysalises into a little outdoor greenhouse (the type you get from The Warehouse) in a sheltered spot. A few winters ago I put all my chrysalises into an outdoor storage cupboard as the weather started to get cold. Sometimes I would open it up on sunny days but for the most part it stayed closed to protect them against wind and rain/hail. Towards the end of winter they started turning black and the orange wings started to show through so I started checking them more regularly. Eventually the vast majority did eclose, although they generally seemed weaker to begin with than they do at the peak of summer. A sunny spot and a feed of some home-made “nectar” seemed to perk them up though. I am finding chrysalises in all kinds of exposed spots where they are likely to get damaged in a storm or if it hails so at least if I have moved them to sheltered spot then they have a better chance than they would in the garden.

I’m in Wellington. I’ve got chrysalids inside in a well lit warm place … not direct light though. I mist them a couple of times a day. They have been emerging just fine. Only five left to go.
I’ve got four caterpillars left and they are inside too in a caterpillar castle . I move them round so they get the best light. Adequate light is very important as well as warmth. Without good light they tend to go into a sleeping state and often starve to death or don’t have the oomph required to go from a J into a pupa, or even shed their skins between instars. So far my light therapy seems to be working well :), they were just dying in the hothouse because of reduced light hours. good luck!